ANNVILLE, Pa. – The No. 8 Stevens Institute of Technology men's lacrosse team wrapped a fifth consecutive Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom regular season title with a 21-7 win over Lebanon Valley Saturday afternoon.
Tommy Robertozzi nearly outscored the Dutchmen by himself, finishing with a game-high six goals.
Matthew Pergola,
Jackson Penn,
Adam DeCristofaro, and
Joseph Grippo all had two, while
Finlay MacKnight,
Jake Connelly,
Shea Grant,
Larson Cronk,
Joe Leone,
Nate Lapat, and
Bastian Chorazykiewicz all had one.
Defensively,
John Flynn caused four turnovers -- a career-high for the first-year --,
Bryan Creamer caused two and eight players caused one each. At the face-off X,
Will Giarrusso was 9-for-14 with a gamer-high seven ground balls, Chorazykiewicz was 9-for-10 with six ground balls, and
Luigi Pantano was 5-for-7 with four ground balls.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Grant broke the ice just shy of two minutes in and MacKnight converted a man-up opportunity just over two minutes later. Leone and Pergola scored less than 30 seconds apart, putting the Ducks up 4-0 just shy of the midway mark of the opening quarter. Robertozzi added back-to-back goals, then after the Dutchmen finally got on the board, Penn, Robertozzi, and Grippo all added one each for a 9-1 Ducks' lead at the end of the period.
The teams traded the first four goals of the second quarter, DeCristofaro netting both for Stevens (13-3, 7-0 MACF), before Pergola and Chorazykiewicz (off the ensuing face-off) put the Ducks up 10, 13-3. The Dutchmen got one back but Robertozzi scored twice in the final 90 seconds of the half, the second goal coming in the final second, sending Stevens to the locker room up 15-4.
After an early Dutchmen goal in the third, Penn, Grippo, Robertozzi, and Cronk all scored less than two minutes apart, extending the lead to 19-5. The Ducks did not score again until the end of the quarter, but held the Dutchmen to a single shot, with the 14-goal advantage holding into the fourth.
Each side tacked on one in the final quarter, Connelly scoring for Stevens.
Inside the Box Score
- The Ducks have won all 38 regular season MAC Freedom games since the start of the 2021 season.
- Robertozzi's six goals tied him with Pergola and Grippo for the most in a game by a Duck this season.
- DeCristofaro's two-goal game gave him eight goals in his last six games after tallying just two goals in his first nine.
- Cronk's goal was his first of the year, becoming the 37th different Duck to score this season.
Up Next: The No. 1 seed in the MAC Freedom Tournament, Stevens will face fourth-seeded Misericordia, whom the Ducks beat 17-8 in the conference opener on April 4, on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at DeBaun Athletic Complex. The winner of that game will play the winner of the other semifinal (Arcadia or DeSales) in the MAC Freedom Final on Saturday, May 3, hosted by the highest remaining seed.
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